All Hail the Toughest Man in the World
Dudes, dudes, dudes… I’m sitting here at the post-fight presser waiting for Tony’s arrival on the scene, which Bob Arum just informed us was imminent. Like all of you, I imagine, I’m still so high on adrenaline and disbelief that I feel like I just hoovered up six big lines of good blow. Man, I’m telling you all, when Margo nearly finished the job at the end of the tenth and Cotto staggered to his corner all bloodied and beaten and… well, what can I say? I was so pumped up that I nearly passed out.
Here’s Margo on the stump now hitting us with a little “I told you so” but also throwing mad props to Cotto. I’m going to check out now and listen up to what these guys have to say. I’ll tell you this – Margarito is pretty swollen, even with the sunglasses on. I’m kind of relieved to see that he at least got injured in there, because I don’t know… watching that thing, watching the number of ungodly shots that he ate without even blinking, I was beginning to wonder if Tony Margarito was actually human. Early and huge props to Ryan on his calls and wagers – we had great debates about this fight all week, and he turned out to be dead-on.
In conclusion, check out my post-fight recap over at The Sporting Blog, and we’ll go over this… well, we’ll be going over this thing for the rest of our lives, but we’ll start tomorrow, or if not then, Monday.
P.S. – Bob Arum is just now informing us that early word is that this fight did great PPV numbers and that whereas before it didn’t seem like, say, an Oscar/Margo fight was a possibility, now he thinks it’s very much in the ballgame. Who knows – man it’s hard for me to imagine Oscar having the cojones to step in the ring with the Antonio Margarito who came to fight tonight.
P.P.S. – No Cotto at the presser. They sent him straight to the hospital. Evidently, he needed a shitload of stitches. Man, lost in all of this is Cotto’s epic display of guts- – JESUS WHAT A FIGHT! All right, Large out, we’ll be back on this soon.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
I agree with you said previously about better beating tougher 9 times out of ten. I guess this was that one time. Great fight for both of these guys. I just wish, as a Cotto fan, he would have been smart instead of brave.
Him thinking that he could hurt Margs early is what killed him later. I hate to say it, but Floyd would have bee smarter. He would have ran the entire fight. Everybody would have scolded him for it, but he still would have got the decision.
Cotto will fight Margs again, probably with a new trainer. Next time he will be smarter. Next time we will win.
July 26th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
fuckin woooooowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!
July 26th, 2008 at 11:55 pm
Worth Every Penny!
The thing this sport delivers more than most any is the narrative. And not in the Olympic, Eli Manning son of Archie/brother of Peyton kind of way. I’m talking about the back and forth, the question of will and the look on a fighter’s face when he knows he’s had, but presses on nevertheless. That, good people, is why it’s the “sweet science”.
I think it was the eighth round when I noticed Cotto in his corner looking into the abyss. At that point it would have taken a miracle for him to pull it out.
Great, great fight. Margarito’s a worthy champion.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Marvelous Margarito – I can’t think of anyone with a chin like that since Hagler.
July 27th, 2008 at 2:48 am
Como se dice… holy nuts?
July 27th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I love that guy. It was like watching a kind of Gatti that could actually win. The fight I’d like to see now is not against Oscar (as if he’d do it!!!) but against born again Daniel Santos. It’s unlikely cause the guy is at 154 right now. But Margarito has bad blood with him. He lost a stupid fight to him because of a headbutt. Now that god is on his side, he should settle the score…
July 27th, 2008 at 9:42 am
The only fight I want to see after last night is Cotto v. Margerito II
July 27th, 2008 at 11:54 am
No way Oscar gets within 100 miles of Margo after last night. If Margo fights in Vegas next, ODLH will be at the Staples Center.
July 27th, 2008 at 11:59 am
Say what you will about Kellerman, but he hit the nail on the head during Countdown when he said You don’t want to be standing in front of Antonio Margarito on the night he feels that he has arrived.
This got me thinking. So much has been made of the dearth of superstars in boxing today, especially with Oscar at the end of his run and Floyd at least pretending to be retired. But how lucky are we that we have seen two legitimate ascensions to stardom in the past year, in Margo and Pavlik. Cotto is still a star in my book. Add in Izzy Vazquez, and….shit, friends. The future is bright, but the present looks pretty damn good too.